SK buys NSOK to get into security

SK Telecom said yesterday it will acquire the country’s fourth-largest security company, NSOK, to enter into new business areas combining security services with ICT technology.

“We are currently working on the acquisition of NSOK and plan to complete the acquisition agreement within this month at the earliest,” said an SK Telecom spokesman.

The move is seen as a counter to KT’s subsidiary KT Telecop, which is No. 3 in the unmanned security service market.

SK Telecom is already offering services checking the security of elderly people living alone through CCTVs and smartphones.

Competition in the wired and wireless security service market is thus likely to intensify.

About 80 percent of the nation’s unmanned security market, estimated at more than 4 trillion won ($3.7 billion), is controlled by three companies: S1, ADT Caps and KT Telecop.

NSOK has around 40,000 subscribers in metropolitan areas, and its market share is around 10 percent. SK Telecom reportedly considered acquiring ADT Caps earlier but chose NSOK as the price of ADT Caps was too high.

SK Telecom is expected to expand its share of the unmanned security market within SK Group.

“The security industry is getting tense as SK Telecom, the strongest company in the IT sector, enters the market,” said an industry source. “Although SK Telecom is acquiring the No. 4 company, when its communications technology is applied to 20 million subscribers, the synergy effect could be explosive.”

“As current security systems utilize communications facilities based on closed-circuit CCTV and crime prevention system networks, various combined services and significant cost savings are expected when they are integrated with communications services,” the source said.

BY KIM JUNG-YOON [kjy@joongang.co.kr]